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Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jun 26, 2016

Atomic safety and shinkansen issues complicate Upper House equation for Kansai voters

Nuclear safety, route plans for new shinkansen and maglev lines, and the ruling coalition's economic policies are some of the top local issues on the minds of Kansai voters as they head into the pivotal Upper House election next month.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2016

U.S. may stop subsidizing Israeli defense firms

U.S. President Barack Obama would like to phase out the agreement that allows Israel to spend 26 percent of U.S. annual aid at home.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 25, 2016

Shinzo Abe's bait-and-switch campaign strategy

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is doing it again: campaigning on Abenomics while distracting voters' attention away from his real agenda. When he got elected in 2012, Abe ran on Abenomics and kept his revisionist political and historical agenda under wraps, knowing that it does not resonate with voters. He...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 25, 2016

Gary Snyder: Asia's heavy toll on nature

Enter the mind of American poet and scholar Gary Snyder and watch as time pulls back, perspectives shift and an epoch passes in a single blink. His newest book of prose, "The Great Clod," is a series of essays on Asia's ecological history, combining culture and politics in a way that is, unsurprisingly,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2016

With all else failing, give rate hikes a try

In most walks of life, if what you're doing isn't working, you should try something else. In central banking, however, the strategy has been to do more of what isn't working.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2016

Brexit could hamper Japan's efforts on EU deal: analysts

Britain's historic decision to leave the European Union could hamper Japan's efforts on a trade deal with the EU as well as its relationship with Asian and other global partners, analysts said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2016

Britain votes to leave EU in historic vote that threatens bloc's future

Britain voted to quit the European Union in a historic vote, with the ballot count Friday plunging the bloc into uncharted waters.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2016

A fragile time for democracy

In this time of fear, people are willing to give up their power to the strongman. But the forces they are seeking protection from are far beyond the abilities of one person to control.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2016

Trump's economic policies a recipe for disaster

Some politically neutral economists have looked at Donald Trump's economic policies. What they found should scare the daylights out of you.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 23, 2016

Indonesia leader, top execs visit Natuna isles in warship

Indonesia's president visited the Natuna Islands aboard a warship Thursday, making a bold move to assert sovereignty over the area in the southern reaches of the South China Sea after Beijing stated an "overlapping claim" on nearby waters.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2016

'Dump-Trump' Republicans are getting weird

Desperate Republican strategists are concocting wild schemes to preserve their congressional majorities, even though they would concede the presidential contest to Hillary Clinton.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2016
Jun 22, 2016

Battle lines drawn for July Upper House poll

As the campaign for the July 10 Upper House election kicked off Wednesday, the major parties unveiled their platforms to win over voters.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2016

Hate crimes often have way of making it harder to hate

The desire for social order is a powerful reflex that hate crimes only reinforce.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 21, 2016

Israeli prophet of freedom gives in to reality

Noted Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky says Israel's cooperation with Egyptian leader Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in the Sinai is a matter of physical survival.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 21, 2016

Lepage's '887' addresses memories in magical ways

Almost a year after "887" premiered in Toronto in July 2015, and following five-star reviews at every stop on a multinational tour that took in the world's biggest annual theater event, the Edinburgh International Festival, the latest play by Robert Lepage — the Canadian famously dubbed "an alchemist...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jun 21, 2016

Muslims in U.S. fear Trump rhetoric has pulled prejudices, violent urges into open

About three months ago, Sarah Ibrahim's son came home from his fourth-grade class at a Maryland school with a disturbing question.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 20, 2016

Interview with the vanishing Hong Kong bookseller who stood up to China

Chain smoking outside a train station in Hong Kong last Thursday, a thin, bespectacled man called Lam Wing-kee was in a bind.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2016

How about killing schools' economics departments?

The humanities and social sciences are vital to analyzing the complexities of economics, a fact the education ministry would be well-served to remember.
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2016

A murder stuns British politics

While we must not excuse individuals from vile actions, we cannot at the same time ignore the environment in which these acts take place.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2016

America has long fostered a culture of violence

We cannot decry the consequence of our actions if we foster a culture of violence in the United States.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 20, 2016

Regional papers reach out to voters in fight to stay relevant, solvent

With the July 10 Upper House election just around the corner, politics is once again in the air as Diet members head back to their local constituencies to campaign and promote their party platforms.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2016

Yuya Uchida on music, media and Madonna

Strolling in late for our meeting, his shoulder-length white hair lightly flowing, trademark cane in hand and sunglasses on, Yuya Uchida may now be in his mid-70s, but he still carries himself with the air of a rock star.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 18, 2016

How Trump fares in Japan's tabloids

If Japan's weekly magazines appear to be devoting an inordinate amount of space to coverage of U.S. politics this election year, it's thanks largely to the flamboyant antics of Donald Trump, who can be counted on for verbal outbursts and surprises.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / LEADERS SPEAK
Jun 17, 2016

LDP vows all-out effort to boost Abenomics if it wins election

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will launch an all-out effort to boost Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Abenomics policy if it wins big in the Upper House election next month, LDP Secretary-General Sadakazu Tanigaki vowed Friday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2016

The horror in Orlando

Despite some efforts by Democratic lawmakers, if the past is any precedent the massacre in Florida will have no effect on U.S. gun control laws.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2016

How Trump gets away with no actual policies

Who needs detailed policies when name-calling works just fine? For Donald Trump, this has worked so far.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 16, 2016

Line's IPO revives the 'Galapagos syndrome'

The messaging app's $1 billion IPO is a credit to its innovation but that's no guarantee of success beyond Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 15, 2016

Who's watching whom in Japan? It's a state secret

Contentious law has been cited in two recent cases, including one over the mass surveillance of resident Muslims.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo